57 states, eh? And Kerry was boinking the Heinz heiress! I’m beginning to see a pattern here. One more shot of cheap tequila and a bong water chaser, and I’ll have it in focus…
Personally, I think it’s a simple mistatement stemming from campaign fatigue - he was thinking number-of-states (50) and was trying to say 47 (I think), and just plugged the two together. I think it’s funny, “potatoe”-worthy, and meaningless…kinda like the “I see dead people” statement he gave on Memorial Day.
However.
The Auschwitz thing grates me a *little * bit. He was trying to shore up his military cred, get some sympathy (his uncle was so affected he holed himself in an attic for 6 months?!?), and ended up with a mistruth. He knows that Aushwitz pulls more of a punch than…well…anything, so he said Auschwitz. Did he simply not know the true story? In which case, how much of his story was nothing but pandering to the crowd instead of actual, heartfelt Memorial Day feelings? That wasn’t an off-the-cuff speech. That was prepared speech in which the facts were changed…but hey, it’s something politicians do, so no biggie, right? The 10,000 dead in the tornadoes bugs me a hell of a lot more, though. The Iran-isn’t-a-threat-yes-it-is clarification bugs me a hell of a lot more. The Kennedy-sat-with-Kruschev-on-the-brink-of-nuclear-war bugs me a hell of a lot more.
Obama is *not * a liar, but he *is * making gaffes. Is this going to make people who *really * Obama stop liking him? No, of course not, because they won’t see it as important. Is it going to give people who are wary of Obama more reason to be wary? Maybe. I tend to think, even though I’m not an Obama supporter, that the election is his to lose. Too many gaffes (and sometimes all it takes is one) might tip the scales.
Rucksinator: Here’s the YouTube clip.
Nevermind… Google is my friend. It’s pretty clear that he meant to say 47 states. In fact, anybody that says that he thinks that there are 57 states didn’t pay much attention. (They obviously started salivating at “57 states” and didn’t hear any more after that.) If you want to go with that gag, you should say that he believes that there are 60 states.
What a ridiculous non-issue.
Thing is, I generally go pretty easily on politicians when they screw up things in speeches - and I generally do this for people on both sides of the aisle. But I think we need to be honest here - if John McCain were to say things like this, he’d get hammered - just like Dan Quayle was over the “potatoe” nonsense.
The press is going easy on Obama for these sorts of verbal gaffes. And I don’t think that does Obama much good - it leads to undisciplined speeches where strange things happen. In the Memorial Day speech he referenced “fallen heroes, some of whom are with us today.” That wasn’t in the advance copy, from all accounts.
More scrutiny of the message would produce a better message - one I might not vote for, but that would be clearer. And I think that applies to all sides here.
This is the Rovian strength = weakness thing, to a tee. Obama is a good speaker- so the marching orders are to find and scrutinize every speech and speaking engagement for every possible mistake that he makes. I will hear the word “gaffe” approximately one million times before November.
I am resigned to it.
Is this a parody post?
Uh huh. Were you guys videotaping George Allen at every stop because he was such a good speaker? Or is that SOP now on both sides?
I’m inclined to believe the latter. Good speakers and poor speakers alike will have their remarks scrutinized.
Only if every SDMB post Carol Stream has made to date is a parody post.
Which is always a possibility.
It’s my opinion that this is a consciously constructed narrative on Obama organized from the right, which will become more and more apparent as time goes on. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But I don’t think so.
It’s what I would do.
Possible. Family history might have conflated the two or confused “Buchenwald” with “Birkenau” and he just never thought that hard about it to spot the obvious issue. I wrote off the Clinton “I was named after Sir Edmund Hillary” thing for the same reason – she was probably told that as a kid and, as an adult, never thought to fact-check her family.
When someone speaks inaccurately and the truth is that close to what they said or is otherwise insignificant, I’m willing to cut some slack and assume the best. It’s when they’re corrected and still repeat & defend their remarks (Clinton/Bosnia or McCain/“Iran is training Al’Qaeda”) that I start holding it against them.
Pals and gals, you gotta see this! Under the heading “Best Bitch Slap Evah!” Go at once, do not hesitate!
http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/9609.html
Go! Now! At once!
Yeah, I’ve already heard the “Charlie Payne wasn’t really in the army!” line bandied about. Per the WWII 89th Infantry memorial site:
Wasn’t thinking it was shattering news, just admired the style of it.
Truly respectful people bother to learn protocol. Furthermore, if I am reading your meaning, you’d prefer to see the President follow non-saluting tradition – even if it doesn’t mean crap to him – out of respect, because it clearly matters to someone else (like the people who did bother to learn the protocol)…right?
Sailboat
Hrm? I was just commenting that I knew where you were comin’ from 
This YouTube nicely addresses some of the still-oh-so-popular memes about Obama.
I knew Obama couldn’t bowl!
52.)" My economic plan is better than my bowling " - LIAR, as a child bowler you had a 375 average. You started sabotaging your own games so you could run for Office.
Yes, I know a score of 375 is impossible in bowling.
Sorry I’m late to the party; I’m traveling. But just for the record:
I don’t know what they were doing in 1972, but my daughter informs me that her fifth grade class at Punahou in 1997 said the pledge, with their hands over their hearts, in the morning. They sang the anthem for assemblies and were not instructed to put their hands over their hearts. (I never was either; NY public school, early '60s.) So there’s a reasonable chance that’s what he was taught there.
(Not referring specifically to you/your daughter)
Nothing says “America”, “Freedom”, and “Independence” better than unthinking conformity to what the government says we should do they way they say we should do it!
-Joe